In a career that spanned half a century, eighty
published novels and dozens of short stories, William MacLeod Raine helped
define the mythic West of film and fiction fame. Prolific, successful, and
beloved, his works remain in print today. While not as well known as some of
his contemporaries like Louis L’Amour and Ernest Haycox, Raine nevertheless was one
of the greatest western authors of the 20th Century.

Nothing in his early years suggested that the fates had
decreed for him a career writing about cowboys and desperados. Born in London,
in 1871, Raine lived the first years of his life in the cramped and crowded streets
of one of the world’s largest cities. His mother died before he reached the age
of ten. His grief stricken father, desperate for a change of scenery,
determined to come to America.

By the early 1880s, Raine’s father settled in
Arkansas, where he operated a cattle ranch. It was here, amidst the cattle and
dust of his father’s spread, that young Raine began his western education. He
spent the rest of his childhood on the ranch.

After graduating from Oberlin College, Raine headed
west. It was an era in between eras. The old west was dying, the frontier dead,
but the 20th century’s advance was still held up along the east
banks of the Mississippi.

He wandered the west for a while, before settling in
Denver, Colorado. Working part time as a journalist, Raine made ends meet by
writing short stories. Publication followed, and he soon turned his hand to
novels. His first attempts were romantic histories reminiscent of his English
roots.

Raine had served a stint with the Arizona Rangers, whose
endeavors were as dangerous and successful as those of their better known, Texas
brethren. Inspired by his adventures, and finding English historicals a hard sell, he set out to write his first full length
western.

Published in 1908, Wyoming: A Story of the Outdoor
West was met with approval by critics and readers alike. It’s success launched
him on a fifty year writing career. From 1909 to his death, he wrote an
average of two novels a year. His childhood ranching, the time spent wandering the west, and his interlude with the Rangers made for excellent source material, and lent his stories an authenticity often lacking in Westerns of the period. This verisimilitude, his knack for writing page turners with galloping plots and fast shooting made for a winning combination.

After the rise of Hollywood in the 1920s, Raine’s work
made the transition from page to silver screen. His short story, The Yukon
Trail: A Tale of the North was adapted and released as a movie, The Grip of the
Yukon. Over all, more than twenty of his works would make it to film, including screenplays for episodes of beloved TV western series like Colt .45.

Raine died in Denver, July 25, 1954. In 1958, the
National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum posthumously inducted him into the
Hall of Great Westerners. It was a well deserved honor. For William Macleod
Raine embodied that dictum of great authors: write what you know. And he did.
Rancher, wanderer, lawman, his boot heels pounded the same dust as the heroes
he wrote.

Photo #1: William MacLeod Raine in his Denver office, circa 1950

Photo #2: Paperback editions of Raine's Westerns

Photo #3: Movie Poster from The Man From Bitter Ridge. The best known Hollywood adaptation of Raine's work.

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